1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper cassette used for a printer and provided with a cutter.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is performed in practice that a recording paper or a paper package is contained in a paper cassette with which a printer is loaded for feeding the recording paper into the printer. Meanwhile, by a certain printing method, it is possible to obtain a high-quality image being equal to a silver-salt photograph. As to such printing methods, there are a heat transfer printing method of a sublimate type, a thermal printing method of a directly coloring type, and so forth. In virtue of these methods, a printer used in a home is on the market.
In a thermal printer, printing is not carried out for the whole of the recording paper but is carried out for a recording area except for a margin. This is for the purposes of keeping stable contact between a thermal head and a recording paper, and of stably transferring the heat from the thermal head to the recording paper. On the other hand, it is general that a silver-salt photograph has no margin. Thus, with respect to the silver-salt photograph and the print of the thermal printer, the respective impressions thereof are different from each other due to existence of the margin. When such photographs and prints are stuck in an album together, a strange feeling occurs. In order to remove this feeling, the margin is sometimes cut off by a pair of scissors or a cutter blade.
Therefore, there arises a problem in that it takes a great deal of time to cut off the margin after printing. Further, since the margin is cut off by the scissors or the cutter blade, cutting is likely to be obliquely performed and a cutting line is likely to be curved.
In view of the foregoing, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a paper cassette in which a margin of a recording paper can be cut off with accuracy.
It is a second object of the present invention to provide a paper cassette in which a margin of a recording paper can be easily and efficiently cut off.
It is a third object of the present invention to provide a paper cassette in which a margin of a recording paper can be freely set at any width.
In order to achieve the above and other objects, the paper cassette according to the present invention comprises a cutter for cutting off the margin of the recording paper. In a preferred embodiment, the cutter includes a guide groove and a cutter blade.
The guide groove is for guiding an edge of the printed recording paper. The cutter blade is arranged in this guide groove. The recording paper is moved along the guide groove in a state that the edge of the recording paper abuts on a guide face of the guide groove. During the movement of the recording paper, the margin thereof is cut off by the cutter blade arranged in the guide groove.
It is preferable to provide the cutter blades for the top-and-bottom margins and for the right-and-left margins. Moreover, it is preferable that a length from the cutter blade to the guide face is changeable. Further, the cutter blade may be constituted of a roll blade.
In another embodiment, the cutter includes a cutter table and a cutter blade. The cutter table is for placing the printed recording paper thereon. The cutter blade is arranged so as to surround a recording area of the recording paper. The margin of the recording paper is cut off by moving one of the cutter table and the cutter blade toward the other thereof.